英语 热门试卷

D

It's rare that you see the words "shyness" and "leader" in the same sentence. After all, the common viewpoint is that those outgoing and sociable guys make great public speakers and excellent networkers and that those shy people are not. A survey conducted by USA Today referred to 65 percent of executives who believed shyness to be a barrier to leadership. Interestingly, the same article stresses that roughly 40 percent of leaders actually are quite shy—they're just better at adapting themselves to situational demands. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Charles Schwab are just a few "innies".

Unlike their outgoing counterparts who are more sensitive to rewards and risk-taking, shy people take a cautious approach to chance. Rather than the flashy chit-chat that defines social gathering, shy people listen attentively to what others say and absorb it before they speak. They're not thinking about what to say while the other person is still talking, but rather listening so they can learn what to say. Along the same lines, shy people share a common love of learning. They are intrinsically（内在地） motivated and therefore seek content regardless of achieving an outside standard.

Being shy can also bring other benefits. Remember being in school and hearing the same kids contribute, until shy little Johnny, who almost never said a word, cut in? Then what happened? Everyone turned around to look with great respect at little Johnny actually talking. This is how shy people made good use of their power of presence：they "own" the moment by speaking calmly and purposefully, which translate to a positive image.

Shyness is often related to modesty. Not to say that limelight-seekers aren't modest, but shy people tend to have an accurate sense of their abilities and achievements. As a result, they are able to acknowledge mistakes, imperfections, knowledge gaps and limitations.

Since shy people have a lower sensitivity to outside rewards than outgoing ones, they're more comfortable working with little information and sticking to their inner desires. Shy people are also more likely to insist on finding solutions that aren't primarily apparent. Don't believe me? Maybe you'll believe Albert Einstein, who once said, "It's not that I'm so smart, it's that I stay with problems longer." Obviously, finding certainty where uncertainty is typically popular is a huge plus for any successful person.

The myth that shy people are less effective leaders than their outgoing fellows is just a misunderstanding. Make wise use of your personality strengths to lead your business no matter what side of the range you fall on.

C

  Even as Google plans to test its fleet（车队）of self-driving cars on public roads this summer, its business model remains a bit of a mystery. By 2025, as many as 250,000 self-driving vehicles could be sold each year globally, according to a study by an industry research firm.

"Vehicles that can take anyone from A to B at the push of a button could transform mobility for millions of people," said Chris Urmson, director of Google's self-driving car project. For now, Google has no plans to sell any of its self-driving cars. They are strictly for research. But they will hit public roads this summer near Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California. Previous testing has taken place only on closed courses.

The cars are built to operate without a steering wheel, accelerator（油门）or brake pedal. "Our software and sensors do all the work," Urmson said. "The vehicles will be very basic—we want to learn from them and adapt them as quickly as possible—but they will take you where you want to go at the push of a button." The prototype（雏形）are the first of a 100-car fleet the tech giant is building.

In the long run, Urmson sees a future of safer roads—the majority of auto accidents are caused by human error—and fewer traffic jams. Robotic cars could also shuttle people who can't drive because of age or illness.

Google has said that self-driving cars could launch new business models in which people buy the use of vehicles they don't own. The company has already tested other types of self-driving cars on public streets, including modified Lexus sport-utility vehicles, under a special permit program by the California Department of Motor Vehicles that requires a human driver at the controls.

The state has issued six other companies permits to operate such cars, including Delphi, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Tesla, Bosch and Nissan. The vehicles that will be tested on open roads this summer will have removable steering wheels, accelerators and brake pedals to allow "safety drivers" to take control if needed.

Google says the cars are safe. The vehicles have sensors that "can detect objects out to a distance of more than two football fields in all directions, which is especially helpful on busy streets with lots of intersections," Urmson said. "We're looking forward to learning how the community understands and interacts with the vehicles, and to uncovering challenges that are unique to a fully self-driving vehicle," Urmson said.

B

I have a younger brother. To me , he is a fourteen-year-old kid named Joe, with blond hair and blue eyes. To others, he is different. Where I see a kid who just needs a lot more attention, others see a mentally disabled boy, a kid who cannot walk or talk or think for himself. I see someone who just makes daily routine a bit less routine. Others see an annoyance, a bother.

This is not to say that I have never felt resentful(怨恨的) toward Joe. He is my brother, and with that comes responsibility. “Gina, could you stay in tonight and watch your brother?” “Gina, do me a favor and feed him dinner and change his diaper(尿布) later, please?”“Could you come home right after school today and get Joe off the bus?”

These are phrases that I have heard since I was twelve. And sure, they have made me resent my brother to a certain extent. I would think: that’s not fair! Everyone else can stay after and be a member of this club, or get extra help from that teacher. Or, all my friends are going out tonight, why can’t I?  And, how come I have to feed him? He is not my son!

However, the small amount of resentment I feel toward my brother is erased a thousand times over by what I have learned from him. Besides making me responsible from a young age, and helping me be more accepting  of all kinds of people, he has taught me to be thankful for what I have.

I know that there are moment in my life that I should cherish and that Joe will never experience. He will never laugh so hard that he cries. He will never feel the glory of a straight-A report card. He will never comfort a  best friend crying on his shoulder. And he will never know how much his family love him.

Because he will never know, it is up to me to know, every second , how lucky I am. It is up to me to realize that life should be lived to its fullest, and that you should always, always be grateful that God, or whoever are the powers that be, gave you the ability to live your life the way you were meant to live it.